This is the trap stage. We have had a rest day in Tignes, so there is a risk of physical decompression. I went through this in 2005, when I had wasted time in the Courchevel stage, just after a rest in Grenoble. It is certainly one of the most important stages, even if it is not decisive. For that you will have to wait for the Pyrénées, but you always need to be careful, especially with the Galibier - you need to respect it. The difficulty with this stage is that from the starting point at 1,800m you have to go up immediately to 2,700m, to the peak of the Iseran. Your legs might hurt but it can also scare the favourites, who might let a breakaway go.

It was here that...

The Frenchman Emile Georget won 50 francs after becoming the first man over the top of the "giant" Galibier on the 1911 Tour. And on the treacherous descent in 1986 the American Greg LeMond was clocked doing 100kph.

Look out for

The statue of the man credited with founding the Tour de France in 1903,

Henri Desgrange (co-founder of L'Auto newspaper), at one of the entrances to the tunnel which cuts under 90m of rock at the summit. It overlooks Briançon, the finish point of the stage.

Stage fact

At 1,350m above sea level, Briançon is the highest city in the European Union and the second-highest in Europe after Davos in Switzerland.